Polygamists no longer irk Eldorado

By John MacCormack |
December 1, 2012
| Updated: December 2, 2012 2:00am

Aerial view of the church and surrounding lodging at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

The temple at the Yearning for Zion ranch can be seen on the horizon through scattered brush land about five miles outside the town of Eldorado, Texas on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office had filed for seizure of the property on Wednesday.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

The sun break from behind clouds and a wooden cross in front of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Eldorado, Texas on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. The Catholic church sits at the intersection which leads down a road to the Yearning for Zion ranch. Eldorado, Texas has dealt with the turmoil of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and their prophet and leader Warren Jeffs since 2003. Nine years later, the town appears to be moving on and trying to regain a sense of normalcy according to officials.

Photo By Mike Fisher

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Schleicher County Judge Charlie Bradley was not present during the turmoil with Warren Jeffs and with his followers from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. But nine years later, Bradley said he has not recalled the town having any disruptions from the group during his time as county judge since most of the people who lived on the Yearning for Zion ranch have mostly left.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

The town of Eldorado, Texas has dealt with the turmoil of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and their prophet and leader Warren Jeffs since 2003. Nine years later, the town appears to be moving on and trying to regain a sense of normalcy according to officials.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Schleicher County Judge Charlie Bradley was not present during the turmoil with Warren Jeffs and with his followers from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. But nine years later, Bradley said he has not recalled the town having any disruptions from the group during his time as county judge since most of the people who lived on the Yearning for Zion ranch have mostly left.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran reflects on the turmoil of dealing with Warren Jeffs and his followers from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Eldorado, Texas on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. Doran has dealt with the group since their arrival in 2003 and is glad that the town is now starting to return to normal.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

The town of Eldorado, Texas has dealt with the turmoil of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and their prophet and leader Warren Jeffs since 2003. Nine years later, the town appears to be moving on and trying to regain a sense of normalcy according to officials.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran reflects on the turmoil of dealing with Warren Jeffs and his followers from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Eldorado, Texas on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. Doran has dealt with the group since their arrival in 2003 and is glad that the town is now starting to return to normal.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

View of the front gate of the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

View of the front gate of the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Aerial view of an unfinished amphitheater and a church at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Aerial view of an unfinished amphitheater at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Aerial view of an unfinished amphitheater at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Aerial view of the church and surrounding lodging at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Aerial view of lodging at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Aerial view of the church and surrounding lodging at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Aerial view of an unfinished amphitheater at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Aerial view of the church and surrounding lodging at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Aerial view of the church and surrounding lodging at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Aerial view of the church and surrounding lodging at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the ranch on Wednesday. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

The Texas attorney general's office filed documents to seize the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. The property belonged to Warren Jeffs who served as the spiritual leader and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was convicted on two child sex charges and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

ELDORADO — When news broke here in spring 2004 that a strange polygamist sect was moving onto a large ranch just outside town, the reaction in the crowd milling outside the courthouse ranged from nervous bewilderment to outright dread.

One woman held a poster that read, “The Devil is Here.” A man invoked nightmarish visions of Waco, where in 1993 an armed confrontation between a fringe religious group and federal authorities resulted in more than 70 deaths.

“Early on, there were people who worried they would come and take our children, but of course, everyone who knows anything about this group knows they don't bring in people from the outside,” said Randy Mankin, publisher of the Eldorado Success newspaper.

Eight years later, Warren Jeffs, the leader of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is serving a life term on convictions for sex offenses, the 1,700-acre Yearning for Zion ranch largely is abandoned and the state is trying to seize it in a forfeiture action filed last week.

And for most people in Eldorado, fears about the sect have long subsided.

“It is a nonissue for this community. They (the polygamists) don't interact with this community,” said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, whose five-man department was all but consumed with the issue in the first few years.

Until the sect came to town, the main affairs of Eldorado, (population 1,950), the only incorporated settlement in Schleicher County, were cotton, cattle, deer hunting and Friday night football.

But soon, hundreds of people dressed in “Little House on the Prairie”-type garb began arriving at the Yearning for Zion ranch, waves of reporters came and went with each development, and state investigators began probing suspected sexual abuse of sect children.

“No one was seeking the spotlight. We were thrust into a story that a lot of people didn't understand or want,” recalled Mankin, the newspaper publisher.

Eventually, it all led to a 2008 raid on the compound in which more than 400 sect children were taken into state custody, and to the convictions of Jeffs, the fugitive leader of the FLDS sect, and 10 others.

The sheriff said things have been quiet since Jeffs began serving a life sentence last year after being convicted of sexually assaulting two child brides.

“Whenever Jeffs was sent to prison, everything seemed to stop as far as construction goes. To me, it appears they are moving away,” he said.

As one indicator, the sheriff, who for years maintained a regular dialogue with sect leaders, now has no one to call. And, he said, there are fewer and fewer reasons to seek contact with the polygamists.

“I think we're almost back to the good old days. I'm getting more involved with the community,” he said.

County Judge Charlie Bradley, has had almost no dealings with the polygamists since he took office four years ago.

“I can't speak for other people, but I don't have much contact with them. Unless they have some business at the courthouse, I don't see them,” he said.

Rod Parker, a Utah-based lawyer for the sect, which is not affiliated with the Mormon Church, said Friday he had no idea of what plans it might have for the Yearning for Zion Ranch. He termed Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's attempt to seize it as “awfully heavy-handed.”

“It reminds me of what they did in 2008 when they raided the ranch and tried to take away all of the children, and tried to punish the women for the actions of a few men,” he said.

“They don't like these people because of their beliefs, so they want to drive them out of Texas. Hit the road. We don't want you here. That's not proper in this country,” he said.

All the evidence suggests that for the time being at least, most sect members already have gone.

During a flyover this week of the expansive compound, which includes numerous residences; a massive, 120-foot-tall temple; and an even larger, yet-unfinished amphitheater, Justice of the Peace James Doyle said little was stirring.

“I saw two or three guys laying a sewer line. There are no women or children,” he said.

“In the last nine months, they've all left, and all the heavy equipment is gone except for one old scraper and an old dozer,” he added.

Doyle, who has dealt with sect members in small claims court and also over traffic tickets, would be happy to see the last of them.

“They have hurt this community. They are not to be trusted. They hide all this criminal stuff under their religion. It's just a cult led by a crazy lunatic,” he said.

Former County Judge Johnny Griffin, who was in office when the polygamists arrived and during the controversial raid, has mixed feelings about how things played out.

“In the beginning, in my opinion, the community was kind of split. A lot of people thought, ‘Hell, it's their religion if they want to be polygamists,' but others thought they were the devil,” he said.

While not condoning the sect's sexual practices, Griffin remains critical of the raid that took hundreds of sect children into custody.

“All I can think about is those little red-faced, blond children hanging onto their mother's skirts and being drug away. There's something wrong in America. The suffering those kids went through. There had to be a better way to do it,” he said.

And he wonders about possible reasons for Abbott now trying to seize the ranch.

“The attorney general is running for governor and he has to stir up some press,” he remarked.

But Griffin is in agreement on one matter, that for Eldorado, this crazy chapter can't end too soon.

“It's over and done with for most people here. But here's what I'm afraid of. If they seize the ranch and put it up for auction, who in the hell would buy it? We'll end up getting another bunch of religious idiots out here,” he said.